Springfield power broker Cellini begins federal prison term

For a time, William Cellini sought to stay out of prison pending his appeal, but he gave up on that effort in November. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune)

Springfield power broker William Cellini reported to federal prison Tuesday to begin serving a one-year sentence for his conviction in the federal Operation Board Games probe.

Cellini, 78, turned himself in at the low-security prison in Terre Haute, Ind., about 200 miles south of Chicago, according to Ed Ross, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. He was assigned inmate No. 40823-424.

Former Gov. George Ryan is scheduled to be released to a halfway house from the same prison next week.

A longtime Republican fundraiser, Cellini spent more than four decades in Illinois politics and used his connections to amass a multimillion-dollar fortune that includes casinos, asphalt companies and real estate developments.

In 2011, Cellini was among the last of more than a dozen political insiders to be convicted in the federal investigation that also snared former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence in Colorado for corruption.

Prosecutors alleged that two Blagojevich advisers, Antoin "Tony" Rezko and Christopher Kelly, targeted Hollywood movie producer Thomas Rosenberg after learning he had not made any contributions to the then-governor's campaign even though his investment firm had a lucrative deal with the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System.

Cellini, working with corrupt TRS board member Stuart Levine, was to relay the message to Rosenberg that a $220 million allocation from the retirement system would be held up until he made a campaign contribution to Blagojevich, prosecutors said.

For a time, Cellini sought to stay out of prison pending his appeal, but he gave up on that effort in November. He would be eligible for release after about 10 months with good behavior and also could qualify for an early release to a halfway house, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

In earlier arguing to delay Cellini's imprisonment while the appeal was ongoing, his attorneys contended that he had a strong likelihood of overturning his conviction because a juror had failed to disclose her felony record during jury selection.

About two weeks after Cellini was convicted, the Tribune reported that the juror did not disclose a 2000 felony drug conviction and a 2008 felony DUI conviction while filling out a jury form and under questioning by the judge in the courtroom.